Marine Biofilm Bacterial Community Response and Carbon Steel Loss Following Deepwater Horizon Spill Contaminant Exposure

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-11-2019

Department

Coastal Sciences, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory

School

Ocean Science and Engineering

Abstract

Steel marine structures provide foci of biodiversity when they develop into artificial reefs. Development begins with deposition of a biofilm. The effects of contaminants from oil spills on biofilm microbiomes, microbially-induced corrosion (MIC) and metal loss may impact preservation of marine metal structures. A microcosm experiment exposed biofilms on carbon steel disks (CSDs) to crude oil, dispersant, and dispersed oil to address their impacts on bacterial composition and metal loss and pitting. Biofilm diversity increased over time in all exposures. Community composition in dispersant and dispersed oil treatments deviated from the controls for the duration of a 12-week experiment. As biofilms matured, Pseudomonadaceae increased while Rhodobacteraceae decreased in abundance in dispersed oil treatments compared to the controls and dispersant treatments. Greatest mass loss and deepest pitting on CSDs were observed in dispersed oil treatments, suggesting impacts manifest as a consequence of increased MIC potential on carbon steel.

Publication Title

Biofouling: The Journal of Bioadhesion and Biofilm Research

Volume

35

Issue

8

First Page

870

Last Page

882

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